Abstract: A method of tailored error protection coding is disclosed. An illustrative coding method according to the present invention concerns encoding a first signal and a second signal to provide error protection for the signals, wherein the first signal requires greater error protection than the second signal. According to the method, the first signal is encoded with a first error protection code. The encoded first signal is then combined with the second signal. The combination of the encoded first signal and the second signal is further encoded with a second error protection code to generate a combined error protected signal, wherein the first signal is coded with both the first and second error protection codes. A second embodiment concerns the use of separate coders which apply different error protection codes to two signals. The two encoded signals are then combined into a single signal.